2 Thessalonians 1:12

that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The apostle never loses sight of the fact that his readers are still in the world, in the midst of the enmity and persecution of the world. He therefore adds his sincere intercession to his grateful prayer: To which end also tend our prayers concerning you always, that our God may consider you worthy of the calling, and fulfill every good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power. That is the end and object of the apostle's cordial prayer for the Thessalonians, of which he here again states that he makes it without ceasing, that it has become a habit with him. He supplicates the Lord in behalf of his readers that God would deem them worthy of the calling which He has done in their case by bringing them to the knowledge of their salvation, of their vocation as Christians. After the Holy Ghost has called men by the Gospel, enlightened them with His gifts, and sanctified them by the transmission of the redemption won by the blood of Christ, it is He who must also keep them in the faith to the end. So Paul prays that God would do this very thing by fulfilling every good pleasure of goodness, that He would bring about so much in the heart of every Christian, every one without exception now taking pleasure in, being fully inclined to, all goodness. God must be not only the teacher, but also the power, supplying the strength to men who by nature are prone to evil only. He must perform the work of faith in power. Every work of every believer that springs from faith and is in accordance with faith is due to the power of the living God. Hence the believer puts all self-confidence far from him and confidently relies upon the power of God, which works in him with power.

If the sanctification of the Christians will but proceed along the lines as here laid down by the apostle, then the end will be: So that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ. In the entire life of every Christian the name of the blessed Redeemer should be hallowed, praised, and glorified; His essence, His attributes, His holy will should receive honor and glory in consequence of our entire life. Where pure doctrine and holy life go hand in hand, there the lives of the Christians will be testimonies for the perfectness of Gospel-preaching, and men will, voluntarily or involuntarily, give credit to the Lord. And we, in turn, living in the Lord, are made partakers of His glory. All this, moreover, does not happen to us by our own work and merit, but by the grace, by the merciful favor of our God and Lord Jesus Christ, who are, as One, the Source of all the spiritual blessings which come to men through the Gospel. Human pride and self-righteousness are entirely excluded by the plain words of the apostle. Thus the Christians, adorned with the graces of the Spirit of God and of Christ, grow in grace and sanctification day by day, until, finally, at the great revelation of the glory of God, the name and honor of Christ will be praised and magnified, world without end.

Summary

After the opening salutation the apostle tells the Thessalonian Christians of his prayer of thanksgiving in their behalf, that their faith and patience have continued in spite of all tribulations; he adds an intercession for their further perfection in sanctification.